Prologue

Inuyasha stopped almost immediately. That scent...it's been following them for a couple days now, and now, it was as strong and somewhat familiar than ever. What was it? It was so familiar!

"Inuyasha?" Kagome stepped next to him. "Are you all right?" She was borrowing Kaede's clothes once again. Her previous clothes had been covered in dirt and needed to be washed desperately.

The two had been out walking in Inuyasha's forest. They were close to the sacred tree when the scent Inuyasha detected was as strong as ever.

"She won't escape me this time," he growled, chuckling softly. He broke into a run, heading for the tree. Kagome, puzzled, followed as fast as she could.

He stopped in front of the tree and looked around frantically.

"I know you're here!" he yelled. He looked up at the branches of the tree he had been pinned to for fifty years. He smiled. "Found you."

As Kagome entered the clearing, she looked up to where Inuyasha was looking. She gasped as she saw a woman suddenly appear in one of the lowest branches.

The woman had eerily white hair, like Inuyasha's, but more eerie. The woman stared at Kagome, her steel blue eyes wide.

She jumped down from the tree and slowly made her way to Kagome. Inuyasha watched the woman's movements closely.

She smiled at Kagome as soon as she was within arms reach.

"Is it really you?" she whispered.

Kagome blushed. "Me?"

Without another word, the woman engulfed Kagome in a hug. "Kikyou! I knew you weren't dead! I just knew it!"

"What?" Kagome asked, looking desperately at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha couldn't move. Was he really looking upon his childhood friend? He stepped forward.

"Maine?" he whispered.

The woman, Maine, let go of Kagome, and looked at Inuyasha. She smiled.

"I see you haven't forgotten," she said. She turned to Kagome. "Kikyou. It's been so long. Why are you not talking to me?"

"I'm not Kikyou," Kagome said.

Maine looked at her, blinking. "Of course you are!"

Kagome shook her head and looked at Inuyasha, who was cautiously walking up to them.

Maine whipped around and faced Inuyasha. He could already tell she was jumping to conclusions; she was known for it. He shook his head.

"It's not what you think," he said.

Her eyes went wide. "What DO I think? I'll tell you what I think." She got close to his face. "This is not Kikyou, therefore, everything that happened many years ago was true. You killed Kikyou!"

Inuyasha nodded, but had a regretful look on his face. However, he still could not get over the fact that he was looking at Maine...his childhood friend...the fourth person who came into his life that he actually cared for.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You killed Kikyou, so who else is to blame her death besides you? Now, you move onto this SLUT..." Inuyasha and Kagome flinched, "...How could you?"

"Kagome is not a slut," Inuyasha countered. "I did not 'move on' to anyone."

Maine shook her head, and ran. Inuyasha watched her. Suddenly, he muttered, "I will not let you go after you came back!"

He ran as fast as he could. He ran until he was sure he was hiding from him. Strangely enough, he ran all the way to Sesshoumaru's Palace in the Western Lands. How did he get here so quickly? What of Kagome? What happened to her?

He looked up. The sky was red, orange, and pink: sunset. Had he been running that long, and had not got at all tired?

Nervously, he turned around, thinking that she found comfort in Sesshoumaru. It didn't surprise him the least. She did like him in the their early years. She was always staring at Sesshoumaru, and asking questions about him, and blushing every time he walked into a room or when they talked about him.

He took two steps away from the palace before he felt her again. She was hiding in a tree over by a clearing not far away from where he stood. He ran to where he knew where she was.

"Maine!" he called. "Maine! Maine!"

High up in a tree, she watched him. She watched him stare at the palace that she feared to tread on for many years now. She watched him look at the sky. She watched him turn around, but freeze. She watched him look straight at her. She watched him run towards her. She listened to him call her name, and it pained her. It all pained her. His smell, his appearance, and the way he called her...

She closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Maine! Maine! Maine!"